Scott Gomez is expected to be back in the Habs' lineup against
the Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)
For a while it was standing (limping?) room only in the team’s infirmary. Now, it appears the workload of the Canadiens’ athletic therapists is easing up, little by little.
First, Jaroslav Spacek returned Saturday night after missing the team’s back-to-back set earlier in the week. Then on Monday, Scott Gomez and Matt D’Agostini skated with their teammates and are expected to return to action when the Canadiens take on the Maple Leafs at the Bell Centre on Tuesday.
Gomez, sidelined for the last four games with a lower body injury, hinted at his return in a taped message on RDS in which he said – in French – that he hoped to be back against Toronto. Monday’s practice had the centre between the-recently-hot Max Pacioretty and Travis Moen.
“It was good to get a practice out of the way,” admitted the 29-year-old. “It felt good to be back with the guys and to be able to finish practice, that’s a good sign.”
D’Agostini, meanwhile, missed all of November (plus one game in October) recovering from a hit by Chicago’s Andrew Ladd back on Oct. 30. Originally believed to be bothered by concussion-like symptoms, it was in fact a knee injury endured from the hit that kept the second-year winger out of commission. Lined up with Glen Metropolit and Kyle Chipchura at practice, D’Agostini is anxious to suit up for a game.
“It’s not fun getting hurt and it’s a long road back but it’s good to be here. I’m just going to have to take it one shift at a time. I know it’s going to be pretty exciting for me; I just can’t wait to be back out there,” he said.
Gomez’s return will allow Tomas Plekanec a few more breaths between shifts, the latter surpassing the 25-minute mark twice during his absence. It was the first time in his career that Plekanec had logged that much ice time in a game. Gomez had 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in 22 appearances before the injury bug caught him, a total the Canadiens will need him to improve on for the team to succeed.
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Points coming from D’Agostini would also be welcome. After scoring 12 goals in 53 games last year, the sophomore campaign has been a struggle for the 23-year-old, with just one goal in 11 outings thus far. Should his linemates remain the same on Tuesday, he’ll be the designated sniper on a trio expected to deliver some solid, simple-play hockey.
In other injury news, Hal Gill got the green light to practice with his teammates and is expected to do so on Tuesday. Additionally, RDS reported that Andrei Kostitsyn lightly skated for the first time since hurting his foot last week, taking to the ice after the rest of the team. No further word on his status.
Moen gets some news
With his home province Saskatchewan Roughriders battling the Montreal Alouettes for the Grey Cup on Sunday, few would have been surprised to learn of any potential bets in the Canadiens’ locker room. According to Mike Cammalleri, though, the Swift Current native would have been at a great disadvantage on any wager.
“His hometown, they don’t have TVs there yet, I don’t think. They actually weren’t even aware that there was football so it was very hard for him to make a bet that way. He was very uninformed,” dead-panned the Habs’ leading goal-scorer.
Upon hearing of his teammate’s comments, Moen had just one response.
“Rider pride. That’s all I gotta say.”
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